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Relax and Enjoy Your Life.

Size
Small is beautiful. Today?s digital cameras are sometimes so small, that they fit into the breast pocket of your shirt easily and are still fully featured so you get the most out of the camera in almost every situation. Just imagine taking a picture of a wonderful sunrise when your are on your morning run or the happy smile of your kids when you pick them up after school. With a small digital camera you don’t have to lug around heavy equipment, you are always ready to take the picture of your life.

But too small could be a nightmare for someone with large hands or big fingers. In this case it is not practical and the fingers could cover the lens, the internal flash or could not work the tiny buttons to select the diverse functions, a modern digital camera offers.
A larger, heavier digital camera is useful when you want to do more serious work. Think about taking pictures where the internal flash is disabled and you work with longer shutter speeds. A heavier camera is easier to hold steady and it can better compensate the tine movement when you press the shutter button.

System ? Camera Technology
There are many different kinds of cameras on the market today. The consumer has the choice between an ever increasing number of brands, but mainly his decision is based on what he wants to use the camera for and what his past experiences with photography are.

Viewfinder cameras
this is the most simple system on the market. The viewfinder is located in the upper left corner of the camera (seen from the rear) and presents a picture that is slightly offset to what the camera really sees. When you are very close to an object, the difference in view can be dramatic. This type of digital camera works very good for snapshots as well as for most photographic needs of the average person. Disadvantages are the fixed lenses, the lack of influence you can take on the picture (e.g. sharpness, focus, light).

Some more advanced models also use the small LCD monitor as a viewfinder. The advantage here is that the picture you see on the screen is the same that you will take with your camera. You have good control of what you will put into your picture. Disadvantage with his type of display is that you cannot preview the pictures in a brightly lit environment. Taking pictures in brought daylight is sometimes difficult as you try to hold the camera steady and also shade the LCD.

Bridge cameras
this type of camera is more heavyset than the usual compact digital camera. Usually it features a fixed lens with a good zoom factor. Ranging from wide angle to telephoto, you can cover most photographic challenges with these models. They offer a trough the lens view finder, which gives you a correct impression of the photo you are going to take, regardless of focus length. The picture is projected on the CCD chip in the camera and projected on a small monitor that is either inside the camera positioned like on traditional cameras or on the back panel of the camera body.
These cameras are usually more capable of changing photographic parameters and are used by people who want to do more than the occasional snapshot.

Digital SLR (Single Lens Reflex)
this is the most advanced type of digital camera on the market today. It works very similar to traditional SLR cameras, but using the digital process instead of film. You can choose different lenses for every possible purpose. Whether it is a wide angle lens for landscape photography or a small telephoto lens for doing portraits or close-up work. The lenses are interchangeable and you sometimes even get compatible lenses from third party manufactures that are of similar quality, but lower in price. The picture is reflected into the viewfinder via a mirror (this is why its called reflex). When you release the shutter to take the picture, the mirror is moved away, the shutter curtains open and the light is directly sent to the CCD chip. A small LCD screen on the back panel of the camera is used for doing a first check on picture quality and for setting the different features and options of the camera. Digital SLR cameras are usually used by professional photographers and high level enthusiasts.

Memory - Bigger Is Better
The advantage of digital cameras compared to traditional ones is that you can shoot as many pictures as the memory chip allows. Pictures that turned out to be low quality can easily be discarded and again you have room on your memory card to take new pictures. As advantageous as it is, this circumstance leads to taking more pictures than with traditional cameras and as the resolution of the digital cameras increases from year to year, the need for memory increases. Therefore it may be useful to exchange the memory card that came with the camera with a bigger one or having a spare one when going on a longer trip. Below table lists the approximate number of photos that fit on a 128 MB memory card when using the jpg-format:
Resolution Quality BestGoodStandard 6 mega pixel - 3008×20003470117 4 mega pixel - 2400×16005196161 1.5 mega pixel - 1536×1024106173271
The above quality rating is based on the compression factor of the jpg format (higher compression results in smaller files, but in lower picture quality).

More things to watch out for shoppping or digital camera will be covered in part 2 of this series.

Tom has spent most of his free time behind cameras of different types. He specializes in close-up work and travel photography. To share his experiences and fascination about digital photography, he has set up http://www.digitalcameratips.de which covers topics for beginners as well as advanced users of digital cameras.

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Features

• Provides adjustable settings of evenly distributed warmth
• Pad is 72" x 26"
• Elastic straps hold the pad in place on any table up to 31” wide and 3” thick foam
• Reinforced edges
• 2 Year Warranty

 

Amazon.com Product Description

The Master Massage Table Warming Massage Pad keeps you comfortably warm while your receive a therapeutic massage. This pad can be used at home, but it is also a perfect addition to any professional massage therapy practice. The warming pad creates a cozy environment for added relaxation during any session. And with the elastic straps, the pad stays snuggly in place even during a rigorous massage. This warming pad is 68 x 26 inches (LxW) and fits most massage tables.

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-09-25
warmer works well, it is a bit small lacking about 8 inches of covering my whole table.

Review date : 2008-07-30
The table warmer works wonderfully. Keeps the client warm in a room that is more comfortable for me. The timer helps my short term memory and turns off after I am done.

Review date : 2008-07-29
This makes a nice padded layer under quality sheets even if you don’t need the heat! I love the timer feature and temperature control. It takes a bit to warm up so give it 5-10 minutes. Highly recommend!

Review date : 2008-07-22
I ordered Master Massage Massage Table Warmeron July 9, received it quickly and was thrilled until yesterday when it just quit working no matter what I tried. This wasn’t even a month let alone a year. Heat settings, and everything else perfect for my needs.

Review date : 2007-03-10
Like the idea of the warmer, it takes a little while for it to work though, I have an electric blanket that gets warmer faster. I just ended up cranking the warmer up and covering the bed up with a blanket to get it warm.

9

Catching Up

As the storm was penetrating the atmosphere with its shifting, jeering and driving winds: ?blowing everything about around inside out and on top of trees city lamplights, the city, the daughter now was but fifty-yards of the Capital; she is proud she has made it this far, as she fights her way north, farther north, and a little west. People are hiding in cars, a few tell her to come over, wave and yell at her to come over, but she won?t, she got to go north she tells herself, her father told her to, and that is what she is going to do, plus, if she doesn?t her father may miss her on his way trying to catch up to her, so she nodes her head at them: ?no?, as she looks back to the ground, heading north, north behind the Capital, and up to Rice Street.

?(The winds come and go 50, 70, 80 miles an hour.) The old man sees the top of the stairs, and begs to get up to the top, begging his body to perform, just a little more, just enough to last to see his daughter safe. He knows if he can last a while longer, everything will be ok for her: and ok is good enough to die with. He can last, his heart beating slowly, his face turning into a pale wax form, death form: he could last a while longer. His heart beating one beat after the other, slowly now, so very, very slowly, he can count them?the beats, his mouth open: one by one he climbs the last few stairs, and slaps his hands together to get the circulation moving, they are white now, as if he had taken a three-hour bath, they look like ninety-year old hands.

?One two, one two,? he counts, now he?s on the top, on the top of the stairway looking at the city??I made it,? he tells himself. Now the old man finds himself, not running nor walking, but going forward, with the swaying wind, as if it is pushing him to the street, little effort is made, the current of the wind is doing it. ?Good,? he mumbles to himself

his daughter sees him,

??good,? he says, self-confident of his vitality now, he moves faster as the ugly weather persists on dominating his environment, his shell of a body, which is fighting against the fire in his lungs again, as he spits out water.

?Forward, forward, forward,? he yells as he seems to be going into a coma or some kind of trance. He tells himself to wake up, get that heart moving, you got to catch up to your daughter

 he must have walked a mile or two? he finds himself by his daughter now. As he looks up, he is surprised, he had kept his head down so long fighting the winds and water that he forgot to see where he was going and here he was.

?Are you mad?? the old man hears his daughter remark, with a childlike voice, scared of his facial expressions, expressions that might emerge, yet have not.

?No,? he says, he tells her ?I told you I?d catch up, and you did exactly what I told you, you went north and??

The old man couldn?t think of what he wanted to say. He noticed as he looked up into the sky again, it was not letting up, –as he had hoped, then he looked around, everything was water, and more water. But now he tells her: ?we?re close by the house dear, just a little more north, to Albemarle Street, remember if I can?t see it, you will be able to, you got better eyes, look for Alb?Alb?Alb?? And she crossed Rice Street now and continued north and a little west. They both stopped, the old man was not keeping up,

??go on I?ll catch up,? the old man volunteered.

?What?s wrong (she asked)?we got to go Papa,?

?I?m not going without you? she started to cry.

10

Wind and Water

Rain III Third Hour

As he looked upward, it was a worthless twilight, tainted winds, his neck muscles were becoming numb he lowered his head back down.

?Ah,? he cried, ?No need for hope,? no one answered, it didn?t matter, and he was at his wit?s end.

He knew this would be the last hour of struggle?water was his destiny for sure now, and for certain it was close by; with the rain and wind, the breaking up of the Mississippi, it was to be expected now: ??resistance breads resistance?? he told himself, hence, ?the river gives into the rain and the wind (it must give: he concurs, someone has to, or something has to). It is not any different for one life to give life, but one must give in first; call it being slain, whatever one wishes, one may call it surrender and so it is, so it must be; one must give in, in order to preserver the other [? The river is no different. This is the will of nature. Someone is born, some one dies.? It was like his mother, who had died in the hospital, while someone else?s daughter was spared?he had met the guy [the father of the child at the hospital, and then thereafter, after the death of his mother and the resurrection of this guy?s daughter, they had met in a bookstore, and talked.

(Said G?nter down-trodden) ?The river knows the rain and the wind, and when it will stop: as I know Jean-lee will be home safe soon?it is the way things are. A lowly fee to pay for a generation of life for a youth; the augmenting rain and the waking quiet of the wind, the wind and the rain colliding together and the river, yes the river, they all know one anther like cousins, they all worked together, cooperate; illkept they may be for mankind, but together they are a force, we all know, we all sense this, we just don?t say it: no book written on such a choice,? he mumbled. Adding, ?The unerring heart, the infallible unerring heart of the rain and the wind, fills the Mississippi with love, so much love it does not stop to resist; it is like me,? the old man chanted; it was now more than dusk.

He looked about, he knew by the sounds, the cold-blooded ongoing sounds of the insects and the water shifting, the bats flying by, the bodies floating by, a few skiff?s broken up, floating, adrift?going nowhere, in circles, he was not the only old man drowning, but then, there was only one of him, so to him, he was the only one, the only one in the wild eye, of this storm. The deadly icy air had taken several lives, he had noticed, as they were floating by, bobbing their heads up and down, then down, down, and never coming back up again.

?Everybody has their day to die,? came a murmur from his mouth; his mother died, he now remembered it clearly, he and she went to Stillwater, looking at the steamboats going up and down the river, she didn?t know that day she had only forty-eight days to live then.? (More thoughts.) ?She created a good life for herself here on earth, and prepared herself for her life after death. She was wise, simple, shrewd, and lived to be eighty-three, longer than I?ll live?? so he told himself.

?Men and God, men and God,? he unintelligible trembled with his lips; thinking about now, WWI, the Great War, his war, where he had to kill people, now he was dying, the storm was killing him, he said with justifiable lips: lips that were no longer unfeeling, ?when you become God, like God, or full of God, you won?t need to kill anymore?until then it lingers in us all?lingers in us men anyways, at least it did in war.? His iris-less, pupil-less, he seemed to be fad into, the up and down motion of the water, getting dizzy and more sick and lightheaded, as the waves pushed him to and fro making him wobbly and twisting his body in circles to where it was sore to even think about movement, hanging onto the rope as he became more woozy, more unsteady. The water pulled at his chest downward, down and up and behind, as if it was trying to suck him into a vortex, an under current?yet, he would not let go.

The Bushes Chapter Eleven

He said something but no one answered him. He said it calmly, yet he noticed they both stood looking at each other, drenched with water, half naked, blistered from the hammering winds and cuts all over his face from debris flying all about, ?helplessly he continued to look at her face.

?I can hold the rope Papa,? she said.

?Yes,? I know you can, ?the rope, yes the rope? he mumbled.

The old man opened his eyes, and he was by some bushes with his daughter??Are you all right?? she commented.

No response.

?I?m lost,? the old man said, looking at his daughter, ?I?m not sure where the house is?? The old man looked at his daughter; she looked so young, so very young; he had in his mind a picture of her when she was eleven-years old. After her mother had passed away she had asked him,

?Will you ever leave me,? and he said,

?No, never.?

Life was not always easy, but he never did leave her. As he blinked his eyes dry, he stared at his daughter again, she was fifteen-years old, and she had lived with him for a number of years, until she got married at the age of seventeen.

Now he heard her voice again, as if it was looking for a solution?

?Dad,? it said [the voice, ??the house is just around the bushes.?

He thought about what she said, ?bushes, around the bushes? and now he was stone-frozen, it seemed like, unmovable, he couldn?t move, ?bushes,? that was where his mother used to live?he hesitantly told himself, the house was around the bushes, why are we by her house he thought: it?s out of the way: we should be going to Albemarle Street, not Cayuga Street. He was now thinking about his mother?s house, where he was raised, but Jean-lee confirmed it as his house, was he delirious [? Jean-lee even confirmed they were going to have a hot-dinner once they got into the warm house. Something he had said before, told himself: why was she?he stopped (thought) ?is she part of me,? he asked himself, ??part of my: now?? Somehow he couldn?t move around the bushes; that is, he couldn?t move period.

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Features

• Treat your feet with HealthyToes Toe Stretchers! A new therapy that feels amazing and works to beautify, heal and strengthen your feet!
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Product Description

Healthytoes are composed of a special gel material that fits into the spaces between your toes to help open up your circulatory system. Healthytoes will exercise and condition your feet, and with daily use you will notice an improvement in the shape and s

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-12-08
I use this product along with Yamuna’s foot savers. The combination is fantastic! After work, I wear my toe spreaders and stand on my foot savers and within 5 min I’m feeling rejuvinated. Not only do my feet feel better, but my whole body feels lighter, I feel more alert, my stride is smoother, my posture is better and my lower back also feels better. I studied some polarity and they say that energy enters the body thru the feet. So take care of your feet!

Review date : 2008-11-16
I wear high heels during the day and yoga at night and I was wondering why my toes wouldn’t spread out… So I bought these Healthy Toes and have been wearing them for about 1/2 to 1 hour each night before I go to bed. I think my toes are getting better and are able to spread out when I try. I’m not sure if they "End foot pain bunions, Hammer Toe, etc." as they claim since I don’t have these problems, but they do stretch the webbing between your toes and I think everyone can use some of that. I think they are also a good preventative measure to foot problems. High heels really mess up your feet (even though they are so pretty).

Review date : 2008-11-02
Excellent product! I bought these for my fiancee, who has the typical city girl’s foot pain and bunion issues from wearing the fancy shoes all the time.

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Make sure you buy the correct size, and you’ll be fine.

Review date : 2008-10-14
It took me three months before I finally purchased these Toe Stretchers and I’m so happy that I finally did. I have a spinal cord injury and my feet enjoy the stretch and movement. Use lotion to make it easier to slide them on.

Review date : 2008-10-13
My toes were nearing death. I had ankle pain, pain in the soles of my feet and pain in all toes. I didn’t know what to do, I told myself I have no time for foot care and concentrated healing and therapy. I read the reviews on Amazon and thought, oh wait, this (again) is a cure for people who have foot aches alien to mine. I avoided buying for five days but when the pain got really bad, I just expedited the delivery.

The packaging contains nothing but the two toe-soles and a small blue sheet of paper with instructions, the kind you read once and throw away.

I wear leather shoes with narrow noses. I walk more than a minimum of two miles everyday and walk more on weekends. I am your aggressive walker who likes to overtake everyone on the walk. I stand a lot because I am a salesman. I wore these the very first day and it caused nothing but pain for six minutes when I decided I had had enough of it and I slept. The manual clearly mentions that this will happen.

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I use it while watching a movie at home, whenever I feel like rewarding myself with a bath tub, when I’m surfing the internet and lying on my couch. These help to re-align your bones and if used a few times eliminates 85% of the pain no matter how bad it is.

 

A collaboration between an English-born eccentric Eadweard Muybridge and the founder of one of our great universities resulted in a series of events which spelled the end of the hobby-horse posture in horse art and paintings.

Towards the end of the 19th century, an event occurred which significantly changed the world of horse art, in particular paintings but for sculpture as well. Until that time period, most paintings of horses at full gallop showed the front legs extended forward and the hind legs extended to the rear. Unless a horse’s motion was to be similar to that of a rabbits’s, this position would be anatomically impossible. This posture by the way, is often referred to as the rocking horse or hobby-horse posture. Can you image trying to stay in the saddle if a horse’s motion was the same as a rabbit’s? It would be an adventure to say the least.

Pleasure riding would be restricted to the walk, perhaps the slow trot. Canter? Forget it! Driving? One horse or a team. Picture the effect if horses ran like rabbits. It would likely shake the buggy apart in a short distance. Yet this was how horses at full gallop were generally portrayed.

If you’ve ever tried to figure out the motion (or gait) of a horse, or a dog or cat for that matter at a walk, with a little concentration you’ll soon figure out the order in which the legs moved and when a hoof (or paw) leaves or touches the ground with respect to the position of the other legs. At a trot - more difficult but possible. But at a gallop or run - forget it (I’ve tried this walking behind our beagle) - the legs move faster than our eyes are capable of tracking. It’s little wonder that until the advent of photography there was a great deal of guesswork as to how a horse actually moved at a canter or gallop.

One artist who had a clue was the Englishman whose meticulous studies of the horse’s anatomy gave him an understanding as to what motion was possible and what was not.

The Farm

Leland Stanford (1824-1893) - railroad executive, governer, senator, pioneer in California’s wine industry and founder of Stanford University, was also a breeder and trainer of horses. His farm (the Palo Alto Stock Farm) was one of the finest for trotting horses in the United States and in the 1880’s and 1890’s home to 600 horses and 150 trainers and staff. The Farm eventually became the site of Stanford University.

The farm ( and later the city) was named after one of Stanford’s great trotting horses, Palo Alto. The horse was in turn named after the first major battlefield victory of the Mexican War. Stanford’s trotters won numerous trophies and ribbons and several were credited with world record times. In his quest to breed the fastest possible trotters Stanford had a great interest in learning more and more about them, including details of the gait. One of the controversies at the time was whether or not a horse ever was completely airborne during the canter. The unaided human eye could not resolve that question.

Eadweard Muybridge

Enter Muybridge. With a tempestuous personality, sporting a Walt Whitman beard, and carrying on in the grand tradition of the English eccentric, it was said of Eadweard Muybridge that had he never been born a novelist would have created him. Coming to America from England at an early age, Muybridge established a reputation as one of San Francisco’s great 19th century landscape photographers. Over time, his interests narrowed and became focused upon photographing and studying the motion of animals and people.

Muybridge and Stanford met in 1873 at which time Muybridge began to photograph Stanford’s horses in motion. It should be noted that at that time photographers often built their own equipment and mixed their own chemicals. Exposure time was usually measured in seconds rather than in tenths, much less one-hundredths of a second. Up to that time no photographer had been able to capture events too rapid to be seen by the naked eye.

The two worked together for nearly ten years. During that time Muybridge continually improved and refined his photographic processes. By 1877, Muybridge, in collaboration with Leland Stanford’s engineering staff was able to photograph movement with a shutter speed of 1/2000th of a second. It was here that he provided conclusive proof that the horse did have all four hooves off the ground during the gallop.

What was key to the world of horse art was found in the photographs which showed every aspect of the horses’ gait. The photos showed that, at full gallop, all four hooves were for an instant under the horse and off the ground.

In The Art of the Horse by John Fairley there is a reproduction of a wonderful painting depicting the chariot races at the Circus Maximus. It is an immensely realistic and powerful painting. However, every horse under full gallop has both front legs extended forward and both hind legs extended to the rear. If that were the case it would be amazing if the charioteer could stay aboard for even one lap!

When Muybridge’s results became generally known (largely through publication in Scientific American in 1878) they were readily accepted by artists such as Degas, Eakins, George Stubbs and Remington. Others, like Rodin had to go through a period of furious denial before finally abandoning the rocking horse style. Muybridge continued his work up until his death in 1904. Like English painter John Stubbs’ studies of the anatomy of the horse, Muybridge’s work had a profound influence on equine art. The artist could now study detail that the human eye could not see.

His work with Stanford attracted the attention of Thomas Edison and, together with George Eastmans ongoing work in the development of film, set the stage for motion pictures. Also, as Stubb’s efforts provided a new level of anatomical detail to the veterinary world, Muybridge’s work introduced photography to the world of scientific data (this article together with an article on George Stubbs and pictures illustrating galloping horses before and after Muybridge will be found in the horse art pages of www.your-guide-to-gifts-for-horse-lovers.com).

Copyright ? 2005 W. Savage All Rights Reserved.

Montana resident William Bill Savage is a retired engineer who has a few horses on a few acres and when not spending time with family and horses devotes some time to his equine web site where these articles are created.

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Product Description

Barack Obamas greatest strength has been his ability to bring the country together in a meaningful dialog. For far too long the divisions among races, religions, cultures, and genders have prevented Americans from coming together to solve the most important problems of our generation:

• Environment and energy shortages
• Mortgage and housing crises
• War and terrorism
• Healthcare and Social Security
• Poverty in the worlds richest nation

As the Obama administration takes on the current economic crisis amid accusations of planning a socialist system, economics and political writer John R. Talbott argues that such complex problems found both at home and abroad cannot just be left to the actions of government or the free market business world, or the Bush administration’s version of Reagonomics that still sticks to a trickle-down policy.

The change that Talbott sees from a Barack Obama presidency is one based on justice and cooperation, principles that have not held sway in Washington, DC for a very long time. Obamanomics, infused with Obamas speeches, campaign policy statements, and other writings, describes not just a government but a NATION acting according to democratic principles to reform lobbying, banking, and housing as well as restore economic growth, address the healthcare system, improve education, and find solutions to our aging population and declining energy sources.

Once emphasis is placed on citizen involvement, real solutions become apparent to our most pressing problems. The American values of goodness, justice, and fairness is reflected in this man with roots from Kenya, Kansas, Hawaii, and Illinois can once again be incorporated into our economic and financial system.

A former investment banker for Goldman Sachs, John R. Talbott is the author of four books on economics and politics, including The Coming Crash in the Housing Market making him one of the first to predict the current housing and mortgage crisis. He has appeared on CNN, Fox News, CNBC, and CBS Marketwatch and has written for The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and the Boston Globe.

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-12-14
I found this book very interesting but not quite what I expected. I was expecting a more detailed explanation of exactly why bottom up economics will work much better than trickle down has. With historical data or accepted financial theory to back it up. This is an argument I have been making for years and was hoping this would give me some concrete facts and statistics to support this idea. A lot of the book instead were suggestions by the author of how Obama should run his administration. I agree with much of it, though not all, but am still left with little historic proof of the concept.

I definitely recommend the book because as I said there are some very interesting ideas in it.

Review date : 2008-10-09
It sounds good, but if you really examine all the wonderful things Obama is going to do, it adds up to Socialism. All corporations are the bad guys and must be taxed and regulated, wealthy people demonized, economic justice that means taking away from one group to give to another. It’s stealing–just like Obama and Talbott like to say that corporations are doing. If enough people are swayed by this pro-Obama propaganda, we will all have to live with the results. After he soaks the corporations and the so-called rich people and can’t wring out any more blood, then he will come after you and soak you for the taxes he needs to fund his ‘economic justice’ and Socialist agenda.

Seniors would do well to read this book and see what Talbott claims Obama’s plan should include; withold medical care for people over 75 that may need end of life treatment. The reasoning? They are a drain on the “system” and productive people will have to pick up the tab. This goes beyond Socialism!

A quote comes to mind:

“The long road of history is lined with the ruins of nations which bought the souls of their people with the lure of a granted security, and then led them to ruin by that mirage. Security that is real and enduring is attained only by people who will accept their responsibility as duties to themselves and their fellow, and ask only that the State guard the avenues of freedom and keep them open.”
~ Dr. Russell J. Clinchy

Review date : 2008-10-04
This is perhaps the best summary of the issues facing America today - economic and political - that has ever been assembled in one place. The writing is concise, factual and well researched on a variety of topics - ranging from the current financial melt-down, to the cost and availability of healthcare, to the looming social security crunch. The analysis is crisp and logical, similar in style to “Freakonomics” by Levitt and Dubner. And while Obama’s positions are indicated, the underlying text would stand on its own without it. To some extent, the “Obamanomics” title is a pretext for a work of much larger importance.
While easy to digest, the simple fact that so many problems of immense proportions face the country is quite daunting and a little depressing.
This book should be required reading for every student, politician and Republican. These problems have been addressed by other nations whose resources are far more limited - why not in America?

Review date : 2008-09-17
I read this book with an open mind and a longing for the insights to Obama and while Talbott’s writing was clear, it was a bit naive. His insistence on economic justice as the fix to our financial issues is nothing more than redistribution of wealth. His disdain for Americans who want a 12000 square foot house and a Hummer reveals a deep bias. Of course no one needs that much space, but in this country we value liberty and freedom to choose. It’s not the governments place to decide what we need and/or want.
One of Obamas campaign promises is to raise taxes on the wealthy, those making over $250K a year. Talbott says the current system ‘gives money to top earners”, when in fact the system allows top earners to keep more of the money they have earned. I think this basic difference in economic viewpoint is what irked me the most, being one of those ‘lucky’ few that Obama considers rich. He seems to know that the ‘rich will not reinvest their extra money, they will put in a savings account. This is how it works. I have two kids in private college. They couldn’t get into the UC system for their majors because they were impacted. I pay 40K a year, per student. I am too rich to qualify for any aid. So any and all extra money we get to keep is going to private colleges.
Most people considered wealthy work just as hard as those who make less money, so it’s very difficult to not see Obama’s policies as nothing more than socialism wrapped in a pretty package and topped with a pinch of guilt.

Review date : 2008-09-12
Quite simply the best explanation of our current financial crisis I have read. Especially if the markets confuse and frighten you. I wish the book was called something else. The subtitle perhaps would have been better. Anyway. READ THIS BOOK

Nominated for 12 Teen Choice Awards in its five-year (six season) run, including Best Drama Series, Dawson’s Creek quickly built an extensive cult following. A surprise smash hit for the enterprising WB network, the show initiated a successful string of numerous original series for WB such as Angel (1999), Gilmore Girls (2000), and Smallville (2001). Set in the fictional township of Capeside, Massachusetts, the series was nonetheless filmed almost entirely on location in Wilmington, North Carolina (although the opening theme song, I Don’t Want To Wait, is written and performed by Massachusetts native Paula Cole). Creator Kevin Williamson (writer for the blockbuster movie Scream) is said to have modeled the characters on Dawson’s Creek after various aspects of his own self from his adolescent years?

Dawson’s Creek follows the lives of several teenagers, some of whom grew up together, as they struggle through the tempestuous and volatile years of pre-adulthood. The title character is Dawson Leery (James Van Der Beek), an introspective and intelligent dreamer who lives nearby lifelong best friend Josephine Joey Potter (Katie Holmes), a tomboy unaware of how truly beautiful she is. Mutual friend Pacey Witter (Joshua Jackson) is part of their clique, as are newcomers Jennifer Jen Lindley (Michelle Williams), Andrea Andie McPhee (Meredith Monroe), and Jack McPhee (Kerr Smith). Together, the friends form the basis of a teen soap opera, complete with high drama, curiosity, and bits of comic relief. Know for its intelligent subject matter, clever dialogue, and no-holds-barred tackling of issues, Dawson’s Creek made most of its cast overnight celebrities?

The Dawson’s Creek (Season 5) DVD features a number of dramatic episodes including the season premiere The Bostonians in which Joey begins her first semester at Worthington. Taking a writing class, she writes her first essay about her relationship with Dawson, prompting the professor to tell her the two have a great future ahead of them. But Joey disagrees, and when Dawson cancels his weekend visit because of an internship, Joey ends up leaving him a breakup message on his voice mail? Other notable episodes from Season 5 include Text, Lies, and Videotape in which Dawson is sharing his feelings with a psychiatrist while Pacey tries to convince Karen that her affair with Danny is a bad idea, and Highway to Hell in which Jen confesses to Jack that she wants to breakup with Dawson while Dawson has feelings for Joey once again?

Below is a list of episodes included on the Dawson’s Creek (Season 5) DVD:

Episode 82 (The Bostonians) Air Date: 10-10-2001
Episode 83 (Lost Weekend) Air Date: 10-17-2001
Episode 84 (Capeside Revisited) Air Date: 10-24-2001
Episode 85 (The Long Goodbye) Air Date: 10-31-2001
Episode 86 (Use Your Disillusion) Air Date: 11-07-2001
Episode 87 (High Anxiety) Air Date: 11-14-2001
Episode 88 (Text, Lies, and Videotape) Air Date: 11-21-2001
Episode 89 (Hotel New Hampshire) Air Date: 11-28-2001
Episode 90 (Four Scary Stories) Air Date: 12-12-2001
Episode 91 (Appetite for Destruction) Air Date: 12-19-2001
Episode 92 (Something Wild) Air Date: 01-16-2002
Episode 93 (Sleeping Arrangements) Air Date: 01-23-2002
Episode 94 (Something Wilder) Air Date: 01-30-2002
Episode 95 (Guerilla Filmmaking) Air Date: 02-06-2002
Episode 96 (Downtown Crossing) Air Date: 02-13-2002
Episode 97 (In a Lonely Place) Air Date: 02-20-2002
Episode 98 (Highway to Hell) Air Date: 04-03-2002
Episode 99 (Cigarette Burns) Air Date: 04-10-2002
Episode 100 (100 Light Years from Home) Air Date: 04-17-2002
Episode 101 (Separate Ways) Air Date: 04-24-2002
Episode 102 (After Hours) Air Date: 05-01-2002
Episode 103 (The Abby) Air Date: 05-08-2002
Episode 104 (Swan Song) Air Date: 05-15-2002

About the Author

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the Dawson’s Creek (Season 5) DVD.

Price : $52.46

 

Product Description

On-the-go Instrction Because your time is valuable… All Audio All on the go! Beginning level instruction is presented in an all-audio format on 4 digitally-recorded CDs. You have the opportunity to learn on the go, taking advantage of time normally wasted. Study in your car, while exercising, doing yard work anywhere you can safely listen to a CD player. No accompanying books are needed to help you complete the lesson activities. Why can t learning be fun? It can! Linguaphone has chosen to present the allTalk series in an entertaining, soap-opera format. No dry old teacher with a monotone voice putting you to sleep, you follow the adventures of a visitor to a Spanish-speaking country as she interacts with individuals in a variety of interesting situations, learning the language and beginning to understand the culture. Actually learn the language Tired of spending money on language courses that don t work? Did you ever think the problem could be with the course and not you? With Linguaphone s unique learning sequence: Listen, Understand, Speak, you will find yourself actually using the language in no time at all! You are presented with a unit of the language, it is then broken down and explained to you, then you put it back together with greater understanding than just repeating what you may not have understood in the first place. . . . and learn it well! The all Talk methodology not only teaches well, but will have you speaking and understanding basic spoken Spanish in no time at all. Other popular all-audio courses require four times the cds, four times the money and four times the time to do what Linguaphone s allTalk Basic does with 4-one hour CDs.

Planning is the key word for creating a successful slideshow. This is not difficult, but does require time and effort on your part before hiring a professional slide show creating company to create your unique video slideshow. Here are some steps you can follow to insure a beautiful slideshow production.

1. Determine how long you want your slideshow to be. The length of your slideshow will determine how many photos you can use. If you are using the simple fade-in fade-out style, you can usually use about 80 pictures for a 10 minute show. And that is about all most audiences can handle. However, if you choose a slideshow creating company that has more creative elements included in the slideshow production, then you may only be able to use 50-60 photos for a 10 minute slideshow. However, the upside of this is that a more creative slideshow can last longer and seem shorter.

A 20 minute creative slideshow can feel like only 10 minutes, where a 10 minute fade-in, fade-out slideshow can feel like 30 minutes to a lot of people. As we all know, we don?t always enjoy viewing one another?s photos for long periods of time. So, the more creative the show, the longer it can play and your audience will not even realize how much time has passed.

For instance: Sands of Time Multimedia Creations did a video slideshow for a church that went on a mission trip. They were given hundreds of photos to work with and the end results were a one hour video slideshow presentation. As the youth gathered around to see this, they were not at all excited at the prospect of watching photo after photo for one straight hour. However, as soon as the video started they noticed immediately that this was not your photo-after-photo slideshow. Their attention was captured from the beginning to the ending as they laughed, cried, and cheered. At the end they were surprised it was over and stated that they had no idea an hour had passed! They all purchased their own copy of the video. Creativity - the key to a truly great slideshow presentation!

2. Pleasing Your Audience ? If possible include some photos of the people who will be viewing the presentation. Everyone loves to see themselves light up on the big screen! It will make them feel a part of your special event and keep their interest peaked to see who will be showing up next.

3. Decide Your Theme - Choosing your theme will help you choose your photos.

A. Do you want your slideshow to span the life of an individual?
B. Is more than one person?s life going to be featured in this slideshow? If so, do you want their lives shown separately or simultaneously?
C. Is the slideshow going to focus on a specific aspect of the person?s life such as a sports video, a particular hobby, or a particular quality aspect of a person?s life such as in a Mother?s Day Slideshow or Father?s Day Slideshow?
D. Is the time frame very specific as in a vacation slideshow? Or Christmas slideshow highlighting the current years events?

4. Choose and Organize Your Photos? These are very crucial steps and also very challenging. After all, almost every photo of Jane or Bobby is truly unique and beautiful and shows different character qualities. Sometimes it?s good to have a friend help you because they can be more objective. As cute as Jane or Bobby is, most people get the point after about 3 - 5 pictures in a certain time frame. Organize your photos chronologically or by theme, or depending on your slideshow, both. Ask a slideshow consultant for advice

An example for choosing your photos ? Becky is doing a slideshow of her daughter?s graduation. She wants the photos to be from the day she was born to the day of her graduation. She goes through her photos, picks out her favorites and organizes them according to the year. Then she goes back and selects her very favorites from her favorites. Sometimes a third time is necessary, by then you will need to determine which ones MUST be in the slideshow and which ones can be omitted.

5. Choose Quality Photos ? This will help you in the choosing process. Ask yourself these questions:

A.Is the photograph clear, not blurred or hazy? The blurring and haziness will be enhanced the more enlarged the photo is.
B.How is the lighting? Too dark or washed out?
C.Is the photo too grainy? Grainy photos do not scan well.
D.Has the photo been cut in an odd shape? ? Although these work great for scrapbooking, they work poorly for slideshows.

Though some photographs can be somewhat fixed and corrected the better quality you start with, the better the finished product.

6. Choose Your Captions ? Captions can add to the appeal of the picture for the audience to help them understand what is happening in that particular photo. They can also add to the humor or sentimental value of the video. Not every picture should have a caption; for the most part the photos should be able to speak for themselves. Your audience may not enjoy the slideshow as much with too many captions. However, in certain circumstances, such as creating a slideshow for a loved one who is away serving in the military captions can be quite effective.

7. Choose Your Music Carefully ? Hollywood producers will tell you that the right or wrong music can make or break a movie production. Choose the music according to the feeling you want to give your audience. Happy, sentimental, funny, nostalgic?. it?s all in the music. Choose music that means something to you or the person you are creating the slideshow for. Check the length of the music to the number of photos you want to use and the type of slideshow you are choosing.

8. Add Video Clips ? Adding short video clips to your slideshow can help break up the slideshow and 10 ? 30 second video clips can enhance any slideshow.

9. Use Voiceovers ? This can add a sentimental touch to any slideshow. This can be done using a video camera, or with some digital cameras that take video. Just be sure to tell your slideshow company that you just want to use the voice, not the video.

10. View Samples, Choose Your Slideshow Company, and Place Your Order?There are many slideshow companies to choose from, so how do you know which one is right for you? Always view the online samples. If you are looking for the simple fade-in, fade-out slideshow, any slideshow company can do that. If you want the Ken Burn?s effect with the pan and zoom this is very nice and some slideshow companies can do that. However, to narrow your search even more look for unique and creative slideshows. Very, very few slideshows can do this. Combining the Ken Burns effects with creative elements, scenery, and backgrounds make the best slideshows. Creativity and uniqueness?key elements to any truly stunning slideshow.

11. Back up your photos. Are you sending film photos? Make sure you have copies of your photos or the negatives. Sending scanned photos on disc? Make sure you have a copy. Sending videos ? make a copy. Slideshow companies are not responsible for what happens to your photos while in the mail. And unless you have a back-up, photos are irreplaceable.

12. Pack your photos with care. Use proper packaging material. Always place 5×7’s or 8×10’s between pieces of cardboard. Make sure the photos and other material is packed tightly to avoid moving around inside the box. When packaging your photos place them in Ziploc baggies. This will protect them from any possible water damage and also works great for separating your photos chronologically. You should also place your discs or videos in Ziploc baggies. And always insure your package. Although lost or damaged mail is a rare occurrence, it?s always best to be prepared. And always opt for priority mailing services. The less time in the mail ? the better.

This is where your slideshow company now takes over. They should be in constant communication with you and you should have a good idea when to expect your slideshow to be finished. Your slideshow creators should work closely with you to help you receive the ultimate slideshow. With Sands of Time Multimedia Creations your satisfaction is guaranteed.

Sandra Clukey, Lead Slideshow Creator for Sands of Time Multimedia Creations

Sandra Clukey has years of experience and an intense passion for turning still pictures into beautiful, sentimental video albums for people everywhere and is the lead slideshow creator for Sands of Time Multimedia Creations. http://sandsoftimemultimediacreations.com/ You can view some of her samples here: http://sandsoftimemultimediacreations.com/index-1.html